Hi. Since purchasing Vero V over a year ago, live tv performance using tvheadend has been really consistent.
However, recently (and only very occasionally) an hd channel will just freeze and a buffering notification appears. Sometimes the channel will start playing again after a bit, often it won’t.
If I switch to another channel, which immediately plays ok, and switch back to the previous problem channel, it usually plays fine again and remains stable.
Given the amount of time that can pass until this issue arises, enabling debug logging isn’t a realistic option, right?
Any advice as to what I can do to try and identify the issue when it next happens?
Using win dual hd tuner plugged into a powered usb hub connected to Vero. Signal strength and SNR in tvheadend all seem pretty healthy, Tvheadend logs report continuity errors.
Just checked the tuner and it’s very warm, but that’s likely been the case for ages and performance has been good.
I’ve actually experienced the issue a few times this evening (very unusual).
Don’t know if the results from dmesg | paste-log are useful?
Changed the aerial cable that links outdoor aerial cable to tuner. Signal strength went from -51 dBm to -41dBm, which I believe is an improvement.
Rebooted and still experienced same issue, which is weird because as previously mentioned, this is normally very infrequent.
Then connected tuner to a different port on my Sabrent usb3 hub and things seem to have settled for now. Wonder if that indicates a possible failure of that port?
I’ll keep an eye on things, but would be great to know if there’s anything I can do to try and identify the issue (without having debug logging turned on for days at a time) should it happen again.
Seems stable again, which does make me question port failure on the usb hub.
@sam_nazarko i recently placed an order for a second Vero V. Would it be possible to include one of your usb3 hubs as part of the shipment if I order asap?
I’m assuming it wouldn’t have a problem powering the Hauppage WinTV dual HD tuner, along with an ssd?
Do you think the osmc hub could power both of these devices? Or could I get away without using a hub at all?
Definitely seems like the usb port on my hub had failed. Live tv performance has been solid again since switching ports.
Port failure hadn’t even cross my mind initially, given the hub has sat in the same position forever, with only my tv tuner and ssd ever using it.
If you do think I need a hub, and the osmc one will do the job, I’ll purchase and ask you to include with the new power adapter you’ve offered to send me (Order #88554).
So the Hauppage tells us as a truth (potentially) that it will only use 0.5A. That should work fine even in the USB2 port then.
The USB3 can provide up to 0.9A.
Combined with a 2A PSU that’s a bit tight.
Can it work without a hub? Yes. In theory. However: when it comes to powering external hard drives I’m not keen on making that recommendation. Anything else I don’t mind. It either works or it’s unstable and then you know what to do. But unstable with data isn’t ideal.
You say you think the port on your existing device is problematic. Were you always running hub and SSD?
If so, try powering the old Vero with the new power supply to rule out PSU degradation. And if you’ve mentioned before apologies but which device is plugged in to each port? Ideally you want SSD in the 3.0 port and TV in the 2.0 port. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the TV adapter is more power hungry than the SSD. Not optimal for speeds but I’d be curious if swapping ports temporarily as a test gave better results
Apologies if I’m misunderstanding what you’re asking, but just to clarify, I don’t think there’s any issue with the Vero’s usb ports or PSU - it’s definitely an issue with a dying port on my external Sabrent hub.
After my initial post, I switched the Hauppage from one port on the hub to a different port on the hub, which sorted live tv issues out straight away and has been rock solid since
Interestingly, I just tried bypassing the usb hub completely, connecting the Hauppage directly to Vero’s usb2 port and the ssd to Vero’s usb3 port. Set three channels to record across two muxes and switched between them. All worked without issue over a 10 minute period.
However, that was a very short test, and would prefer not to potentially put a strain on the system long term.
If I bought an osmc usb hub to power tv tuner and ssd, would power draw still be borderline given that the osmc hub also has a 2amp power supply, or would that not be an issue when combined with Vero’s psu? (Sorry, have very little understanding about this sort of stuff).
The USB 3.0 hub is rated to supply at least 900 ma on any single port. With a two amp PSU connected then this allows for two ports to supply full rated output with a bit of headroom. The biggest issue with power supplies regardless of who makes them is they usually can’t supply full stable voltage at their max rated power. Even if they can pull that off when new, they often degrade over time and at some point can’t provide the same stable voltage at the same max power draw. As such the best possible position to be in for long term stable operation is to run with a decent amount of headroom from what the max rated output is. In your case if you connect two tuners to a powered hub plugged into the USB 2.0 port, and your storage to the USB 3 port, this accomplished that goal. If 300 ma is to believed to be max draw from your SSD and taking a half amp max for the Vero itself this leaves over 50% headroom from the Vero’s two amp PSU. Assuming max draw on the Tuners is a half amp this also gets you to this same 50% max use on a two amp PSU from the powered hub. This would be ideal both for stability and for extending the life of the power supplies.
